An End and A Beginning
by Card Sorcerer
Summary: Syaoran leaves Sakura, and goes back to Hong Kong, but what happens, when he finds out about a new set of Cards loose in Japan- and that only he can capture?!
1. Sakura, Syaoran, and the End

Okay, this is my first Card Captor Sakura fic. I'm sorry, but I've only seen the American version, Cardcaptors, but I'm still using the Japanese names, because I like them better. The American version just about killed EVERYTHING! Anyway-

Disclaimer: I don't own Card Captor Sakura. If I did I wouldn't have given it to Nelvana and KidsWB.

Please R&R!

****

An End and A Beginning

Prologue

"Its over," Eriol said as he lowered his staff. Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun landed next to him and stood at attention.

"What's over?" demanded Keroberos.

"All of the Clow Cards are now Sakura cards," he answered. "The Cards were almost out of power. Without a new master, they would've just become nothing more than ordinary cards. Sakura needed situations to prompt the transformations. I provided them."

(Author note: I'm sorry if this is so inaccurate, but I've only read summeries of the 69th episode.)

Sakura looked around her and smiled as all of her transformed cards floated around her, and she could once again feel each and everyone of them.

"But who are-" Keroberos started to ask Eriol, when he noticed that the trio was gone. "What?! Where did they go?!"

Keroberos and Yue took off to search for the mysterious magician, leaving Sakura and Syaoran alone.

Sakura started to go after them, when she felt a tug on her arm. She turned around, surprised. Syaoran, still recovering from Eriol's sleep spell, was looking at her with a determined expression.

"What is it, Syaoran-kun?"

He seemed to be struggling to say something. "Sakura... I... l... lo..."

"Hoe? What is it?"

Suddenly, his face changed to a... wistful? expression, and he finished out, "Uh, congratulations Sakura, you've done it."

She smiled, completely forgetting the first half of the word love that Syaoran had been trying to say before. "Thank you Syaoran-kun. I couldn't have done it without you."

She hugged Syaoran, causing the Chinese boy to turn as red as a tomato.

Sakura pulled back. "Are you okay Syaoran? Do you have a fever?"

Syaoran shook his head, shaking off the blood rushing to his head. "No, I'm fine Sakura-chan. You can go look for Hiiragizawa."

She gave him one last concerned look, and then went chasing after Eriol and her two guardians.

Alone, Syaoran sighed. He had been so close. He wanted to tell Sakura-chan so much that he loved her. But no... if she didn't love him back, then she would feel guilty and be unhappy, and Syaoran didn't want to ruin her moment of triumph.

But Sakura's moment of triumph meant the end of his sole reason to stay in Japan.

Ever since he hadn't forcefully taken the Clow Cards from Sakura, the Li Clan elders had been pushing him to force her out of the Card Capturing business. They had been furious when Sakura had passed the Final Judgement and become the master of the Clow Cards. He had explained that it was Sakura's destiny to become the Mistress of the Cards, and that neither he nor anyone else could change that. His mother had calmed them down, and they had left him alone.

His mother, on the other hand, had been urging him to return to Hong Kong as soon as possible. He had said that he needed to stay to protect Sakura and the Cards- which were true.

The main reason was because he didn't want to leave Sakura.

But now the Cards were Sakura Cards, permanently bonded to her. The Li Clan elders would have to accept that. Eriol had said that the only reason why he created those situations was to give Sakura a reason to transform the cards. If the cards were transformed, with no purpose, then they would've run wild, like the Dash had done.

Syaoran sighed again. But his mother had made him promise that at the end of the next year, he would return home. His training had to be completed, or he wouldn't become the Li Clan leader.

But for now, he was happy that Sakura was happy.

And that was enough for him.

***

Sakura couldn't be happier. The cards were transformed, and she was back to her normal life.

Well, as normal as her life had ever been since she had opened a book down in her father's library labeled The Clow.

Eriol Hiiragizawa had left, saying his task as half the reincarnation of Clow Reed, to help her transform the cards, was finished. Boy was that a shock! One of her friends was half of the person who had created the Clow Book and Cards! The ever bigger shock was that her father was the other half!

She had been sad to see him leave, but happy that he had helped her- even though he helped her by causing various disasters that she had to fix. She had noticed that when Hiiragizawa-kun had left, Tomoyo-chan had been even sadder. It was like there was something between her and Eriol. Naw, couldn't be...

Speaking of sad people, ever since that final battle, Syaoran had been very quiet. He still frowned a lot, but most of the time, he just looked at her with a sad expression.

Sakura was jarred out of her thoughts when Terada-sensei cleared his throat.

"Today is the last of school before the summer vacation," he said, "and I would just like to wish all of you a happy summer."

He glanced right at Rika when he said that, and she giggled.

The bell rang, signalling the end of that school year.

Everybody jumped out, grabbed their bags, and ran out of the classroom.

As Sakura left, she heard Terada-sensei and Syaoran talking.

"I hope you have a nice vacation too, Li," Terada said to Li as he past by his desk. "It was a pleasure teaching you."

Li nodded in acknowledgement, and then left the classroom.

Sakura stared after him.

*What was that all about?* she wondered.

"Tomoyo-chan, do you know if there is anything wrong with Syaoran-kun?" she asked her best friend.

The black-haired girl shook her head. She honestly had no idea. Ever since Sakura had transformed all the cards, Li had completely snapped shut. Tomoyo hadn't been able to pry anything out of him.

Sakura put on a determined expression. "Well, I'm going to find out! Tomorrow, I'm going to Syaoran's apartment and find out what's bothering him!"

Tomoyo squealed in delight. "And then I can videotape you going there! I think I'll call this "Sakura going to comfort her friend!"

By this point, Tomoyo had stars in her eyes. Sakura sweatdropped at her friend's enthusiasm.

***

Syaoran stared at the empty apartment.

The movers had come a few days ago and had packed everything up and taken it back to Hong Kong.

He was glad that Sakura didn't see his apartment like this.

He checked that he had everything and then picked up his 2 suitcases. The airport bus would be here in a few minutes.

He had picked up everything that was left in his locker earlier that day, and was now ready to leave almost.

He knew that him leaving would hurt Sakura. But not because she loved him, but because he was her friend.

That was one of the qualities that he cherished about his cherry blossom. She valued all of her friends like family, and they all loved her back. She wanted to be friends with everyone, and had even managed to become friends with him and Meilin- though it had taken a long while.

But he was afraid that if he said good-bye to her in person, he would break down, and confess his love. And that would make her unhappy.

Syaoran strengthened his resolve. This was the better way.

He glanced down at the note he left on the kitchen counter. She did deserve some explanation for what happened to him. He would've said good-bye in person, but he was too big of a coward.

"Are you ready, Syaoran-sama?" asked Wei, his butler.

Syaoran nodded, took one last look at his home for the last 2 years, and then closed the door.

Checking to make sure that there was still a key under the doormat, leaving it for Sakura, if she should visit, he then turned around and left, never looking back.

***

Sakura frowned. She kept getting an "Out of Service" message every time she called Syaoran for permission to come. She couldn't understand what happened. Maybe Syaoran changed his phone number?

Tomoyo was more worried. Syaoran wouldn't just change his phone number. Especially since only 3 people in Tomoeda- her, Sakura, and Yamazaki- knew it. Usually, when you got an "Out of Service" message, it meant that the person had moved out.

Sakura gave up after the 5th try. She shrugged. "I'm sure that Syaoran-kun won't mind if we come over for a surprise visit."

Tomoyo nodded, and followed Sakura out of the window. She hoped that it wasn't anything serious, like Syaoran leaving...

***

They had gotten into the apartment, through the spare key under the doormat, which Syaoran had left.

They had found it empty.

Sakura and Tomoyo had stood there shocked. Tomoyo was so surpised that she didn't even bother to catch Sakura's expression... but she remembered and went back to recording after a few seconds.

Sakura stepped into the vacant apartment. Her first thought was that Syaoran's apartment had been robbed, and he had been kidnapped, but she knew that not many people could beat up Syaoran.

She then spotted a note on the kitchen counter. She picked it up and saw that it was in Syaoran's writing. It was a good-bye note.

__

Dear Sakura-chan,

I'm sorry that I couldn't good-bye to you in person. I just couldn't do it. With all of the Cards safely in your care, there is no more reason for me to stay in Japan. I'm going back to Hong Kong. I hope that I can someday come back and visit.

Best Wishes, Li Syaoran

P.S.I'm sure the stuffed animal and you onnichan will be happy to hear I'm gone.

Sakura let the note drop from her suddenly stiff hands. Syaoran-kun was gone...

Tomoyo bent down and picked up the note and paled. This would make Sakura so sad.

She quietly heard Sakura sniffling. She looked at Sakura. She saw tears glistening in her emerald green eyes as she murmured, "Syaoran-kun..."

Sakura fell to the floor, crying.

Tomoyo patted her on the shoulder and tried to comfort Sakura. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan, I'm sure Li-kun will be back."

Sakura was so confused. She didn't know why she was crying. Syaoran was a dear friend, and confidante. He was the only one who could really share her understanding of magic. Tomoyo was okay, but she didn't have powers. He had helped her after 

Yukito-san's rejection. He had added his powers to the transformation of the 2 final cards. She couldn't have won if it weren't for him. And now he was gone. And she wasn't sure why she was so sad, so angry. It wasn't like she liked him, or anything...

Sakura lay crying on the floor of Syaoran's old apartment as Tomoyo attempted to cheer her up.

End of prologue.

So how was it? I changed the ending of episode 69, so that Syaoran is still trying to tell Sakura how he feels. It always makes him look so much funnier. And it adds more conflict to the story.

Anyway, quick summery, next chapter, Syaoran wakes up in bed with a mysterious blue book called The Clow...


	2. Syaoran and the Mysterious Book

Disclaimer: I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura (if I did I would release all the subtitled episodes and translated manga and then give it to Nelvana to mutilate (for the record, I admit that Nelvana had to cut out some stuff that is a bit controversial, but they got rid of virtually all the S+S, and there isn't any subplot compared to Card Captor Sakura)).

Anyway, thank you for the reviews!  I'll try to keep this story going, but because of school and such, updates might be rare and seldom at times.  But with Christmas break coming up, hopefully I can write a lot!

Anyway, on with Chapter 1!

**An End and A Beginning**

Chapter 1: Syaoran, and the Second Book...

Thrust!

Syaoran struck at the air with his sword.

He was almost done with his sword exercises for the day, then dinner, and then off to bed.

And back to dreams of Sakura.

"That's enough," said his instructor, and his lesson was finished for the day.

He wearily walked out of the training hall.

Even after 3 years back in Hong Kong, he still couldn't help but think of Sakura nearly everyday.  The only thing that drove Sakura from his mind was the constant training.  Since he had missed 2 years of training while in Japan, he was making up for it with extra training now.

But still, when he was asleep, her image still haunted her.

***

Syaoran ate his food silently.

To nearly everybody at home, he was still the same frowning, serious Syaoran he had always been.

The only person who could tell that Syaoran was sad rather than grumpy was Meilin.  She had known that Syaoran had loved Sakura from the very moment she had arrived in Japan.  Well, maybe not love, but Sakura had managed to warm up Syaoran's cold heart enough that he even protected her instead of hurting her, like the Clan elders had ordered him to.

Syaoran finished his food, and stalked off to bed.

Meilin followed him,  and knocked on his door.

"Xiaolang, can I come in?"

(A/N: Syaoran means small wolf in Japanese, and Xiaolang means the same in Chinese.)

Since Syaoran didn't say no, she went in and saw him dressed in his green pajamas.

"Xiaolang, you're going to have to get over her.  You can always go back, right?"

"Who?" snapped Syaoran.

Meilin glared at him.  "Don't play dumb with me Syaoran!"  Syaoran winced at his Japanese name.  He hadn't heard it since Japan.  "I was there, remember?  No one else in the clan, except for Wei, saw her.  I saw what she did to you, and I didn't break off our engagement just so you could run away from her!"

"Who?" Syaoran said again.  He was trying his best not to think of her, but with Meilin here drilling him, that was very difficult.

"Sakura!"

Syaoran sighed.  If there was one thing Meilin wasn't, it was subtle.

Meilin continued on, ignoring Syaoran's sigh.  "I remember what you were like before Japan!  You didn't act very nice, but I knew that you had a kind heart deep inside.  Sakura Kinomoto brought that out.  Don't let all her hard work go to waste.  I loved you before for what you were, but now I love you even more!"

Syaoran's head snapped up.  He thought Meilin had given up on him.

But Meilin didn't have that obsessed expression she used to have.  She was only looking at Syaoran sadly.

"I hate to admit to admit it, but even Kinomoto helped to improve me.  So all I'm saying is don't revert back to the old Xiaolang."

With that, Meilin turned around and left Syaoran spacious bedroom.

Syaoran stared after her.  Then he smiled.  "Thank you Meilin.  Thank you for being a friend."

Feeling better than he had in months, he went to bed, hoping for a dreamless sleep.

***

Syaoran turned around.  He was floating above the ground, in a place he didn't know.

This was a very unusual dream.  Most of his dreams consisted of happy memories with Sakura.  But if he didn't know better, then this was a prophetic dream.  But dreams like that were Syaoran were Sakura's specialty.

It looked like he was in a basement or something, and he was standing near the staircase.  Somehow, it looked familiar, but he didn't know what.

He saw that one wall was lined with books, and then snapped his dream fingers.  He knew where this was.  This was the basement of Sakura's house.  He had only been down here once, before Sakura's brother, Touya, had chased him out of the house.  He had been curious to see where the Clow Book was before it was released by Sakura.  She had shown him the spot, and he had inspected it.  He had felt some magic there, but had thought it was just some residual traces of the Clow Book.

But now, another of the books was glowing in the basement.

He moved towards it, and saw that it was blue, with gold traces.  It looked very old, and seemed to bear a resemblace to the Clow.  How come he hadn't noticed it before?

Any further examination was forestalled by the fact that the door at the top of the stairs flew open.

Syaoran wheeled around, and tried to identify the figure, but he couldn't see any features.

The figure, a she, raised her staff, and the glowing book floated out of the book shelf and towards.

"No!" Syaoran shouted instinctively, and tried to grab the book, but his fingers passed through it.

For a moment, he thought he could be seen, when the figure looked towards him, but then she turned back to the book.

Halfway towards her, the book stopped, and Syaoran gasped as he could now see the front cover clearly.

A white lion, with red eyes, was engraved on the front, along with the word Clow.

It couldn't be...

The figure raised a staff, and lightening flew from the staff and hit the book, and the book opened, showing a full deck of cards.

The book started floating towards her again, but Syaoran raced up the stairs again, and shouted "NO!" again, and this time she definitely looked at him, though Syaoran still couldn't see her face.

His hand touched the book, and the first card, the Wind, activated.

A giant gale started in the basement, and all the cards started flying of the the book.  Syaoran didn't have time to see many of them, but he did see the mysterious person at the top being pushed out.

Using the momentary distraction, he grabbed the book, and hugged it to his body to keep it close.  He wasn't sure if there were any cards still in the book, but another full deck unleashed on Tomoeda would be a disaster.

The wind died down, and then the figure came back in.  From the body language, she was mad, very mad.

She raised her staff again, and struck him with lightening.

He cried out in pain- and then woke up.

***

Syaoran bolted up in bed, panting, and sweaty.

The sun was streaming through the window.  He was back in his own bedroom.

"Only a dream," he murmured to himself.  But why?  Why did he have that dream?

Syaoran then realized something.  In his arms was a book.  A blue book.

Syaoran paled.  "Damn."

He flung it open, and found a few precious cards still inside.

He pulled them out.

The Wind, the Freeze, the Time.  A few others, altogether, 7 cards.  Some looked like the original Clow Cards, some didn't.

If he remembered the Legend correctly, then there were supposed to be 52 cards in total.

He had to go back to Japan.

***

Li Yelan was sipping her early morning tea when she heard a racket upstairs.  Sounded like Xiaolang was awake, but usually he wasn't quite noisy, especially on Sundays, when his training started later than usual.

She was astonished to see her son, still in his pajamas, come rushing up to her.

"Ma-ma, I have to go back to Japan."

Yelan almost dropped her tea.  She had known that her son had missed something in Japan greatly, but she didn't think that he would be so blunt in his demands.

Regaining her composure, she calmly replied, "And why must you go back to Japan, Xiaolang?"

"There is a new threat, and I've gotta help Sak- er, the Card Mistress to seal it.  Ma-ma, the Second Deck has been released!"

Yelan scoffed.  "Syaoran, I know that you always was interested in the Legend of the Second Clow Book, but it is just a legend."

"Then how did I wake up in bed with this?!" Syaoran demanded, and showed his mother what he was holding.

This time, Yelan did drop her tea cup.  Good thing it wasn't one of the older ones.

The blue book had the sun symbol on the front, and the golden lion.  The legend was true... She could feel the magic radiating from the book.  Even more amazing was that the book seemed to have connected with her son's aura...

Syaoran quickly told his mother his dream, and again asked permission to go.  "Mother, I think that the Second Deck is loose in Tomoeda, close to the First Deck."

She nodded.  A threat as great as this needed decisive action, and quickly, or else it could be disastrous.

She stood up.  "Wei."

Wei stepped.  "Yes, Li-sama.  I'll get the tickets for Syaoran-sama and myself to go back to Japan."

"I'm coming too."

The three turned to see Meilin close by.

"But Meilin, you don't have any magic, so you'll be in danger," Yelan said.

Meilin put on a determined expression.  "So?  I can still hold my own in combat, besides I have friends in Tomoeda too, and I can keep Syaoran company."

Seeing that the young martial artist wouldn't be convinced to stay, she sighed.  "Wei, make that three tickets to Tomoeda."

Wei nodded.  "At once."  Wei left to make the arrangements to return to Japan.

Syaoran turned around to start packing, but his mother's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Son, be very careful.  The Second Book would only have appeared if the Ancient Foe had reawakened."

Syaoran nodded.  "I'll be careful, Ma-ma."

Syaoran was about to leave again, when Meilin asked a very important question?  "Wait a minute.  Shouldn't there also be a guardian for the Second Book?"

Everybody froze.  She was right.  At that moment, the book Syaoran was holding started to shake, and Syaoran dropped it to the floor.

The cover shined with white light, and a small white lion club started to rise out of it.  

"Awww, what year is it?" it yawned as it slowly stood up.  It looked down at itself and screamed.  "Ahhh, I'm in my false form, but that means that..."

The talking plushie turned around and saw Syaoran and then tackled him.  "Master, finally, you're here!"

"Huh?"

The Li family members were staring at the floating toy.  Syaoran slowly got up, and the toy floated up to eye level.

"Hi, I'm Riyang, the Guardian Beast of the Seal of the Second Clow Book.  You must be my new master.  Before you ask, no, I'm not a stuffed animal, its just that because the Clow Cards are scattered, I don't have enough strength to stay in my true form.  Now, don't get all freaked out..."

"Wait a second, aren't you supposed to be worried about the cards now?" Syaoran interrupted.

"Nah, they're supposed to be like a test for the Card Master, just like the First Book was for the Card Mistress.  Anyway, I'll explain what the Clow Cards are..."

Syaoran shook his head.  "Hold it.  I'm Li Syaoran."

The guardian beast stared at him, and exclaimed, "Oh, so you're a Li, and must already know all about Clow Reed, and such."

Syaoran nodded.  "But I never knew that the Second Book existed.  I thought it was just a legend."

"What?!"  Riyang nearly fell out of midair in shock.  After he managed to regain control, he started muttering, "Geez, Keroberos was always such a glory hound, and that stuck up Yue..."

"Well Kero was always a glory hound, that's for sure," Syaoran agreed.

Riyang looked up.  "You've already met Keroberos?  How is he anyway?  I bet he must have been furious when he found out that he was stuck in this tiny form.  Heh."

"Yeah, he didn't seem to like it too much when I met him."

Riyang looked Syaoran up and down, sizing him up.  "So I assume that you have magic?  And that you know how to manage Clow Cards?"

Syaoran nodded again.  "Good," Riyang said.  "I don't know if I could handle a beginner.  Anyway..."

Riyang zoomed around the room and glanced out the window at the Hong Kong landscape.  "Good to see that the Cards will still be in Hong Kong, though Hong Kong seems to have changed a lot since I went to sleep."

"Weren't you supposed to be guarding them, though?" Syaoran asked a bit crossly.  Catching 52 Cards takes a long time, and he didn't like having to spend the next 2 years catching all of them again.  Though if it meant that he could be with Sakura again, then he was all for it.

Riyang shrugged.  "Only against foreign presences.  Now you, you're radiating with good magic, and besides, I can sense some traces of Clow's blood in you, so you're definitely the destined Master."

"Hey wait a second, what do you mean the destined Master?" Syaoran asked suspiciously.  

Riyang looked startled.  "Don't you know the legend?  About the Master and Mistress of the 2 Decks of Cards, and how they'll defeat Clow Reed's ancient enemy?"

"What do you mean, Master and Mistress?" though Syaoran had a very good idea who the Mistress might be.

"The Mistress of the First Deck is supposed to be partners with the Master of the Second Deck.  Oi, what are they teaching you kids these days?"

Syaoran blinked.  Partners.  Okay, he could handle being partners with Sakura.

Riyang looked around again.  "So, where is the Card Mistress anyway?  I don't sense my bro's aura, either.  I thought you said that you already met them."

Li Yelan chose this moment to interrupt.  "Actually, Guardian, the Cards and their Mistress are in Japan."

Riyang blinked.  "Japan, huh?  So, Clow did move there after all.  He sealed me in the book when he left Hong Kong."  The tiny lion club shrugged.  "Well, I always wanted to see Japan.  So, since you're just a kid, are you going alone, or is anyone else coming along?"

Syaoran frowned at the kid comment, but he didn't say it in the same way as Touya or Kero, so he let it pass.  If Riyang was going to be staying with him for awhile, he should get used to him.  Besides, Syaoran did like Riyang's serious personality better than that "stuffed animal's" obnoxious personality.

"No, my butler Wei, and cousin Meilin are coming along."

Riyang nodded.  "Okay.  Clow thought that sometimes the Li warriors were way too aloof.  Now, down to business."  He rubbed his paws together.  "Where is the kitchen?"

Syaoran and Meilin fell down in shock.  Yelan looked puzzledly at their behavior.

Riyang sweatdropped.  "I'm just kidding.  Kero was the one created with a huge appetite.  But I am sort of hungry."

Syaoran got up.  "Come on, the kitchen's this way."

Syaoran headed out the doorway and pointed Riyang down the corridor.  Riyang took off.

Syaoran went to his room to pack, making sure that he hid the Clow Book well.  The one thought on his mind was _"I'm coming back Sakura."_

While in Meilin's room, where she was also packing, the one thought on her mind was _"Wait till I tell Tomoyo about all this!  This means more chances to set my Syaoran up with Sakura!  And this time, Syaoran isn't going to run away!_

To be continued… 

Okay, that's the second part.  Syaoran-tachi is heading back to Japan now, what will happen when he gets there?  What will be Sakura's reaction?  Will Tomoyo get it on video? (Tomoyo: Of course!  My Sakura-chan is always so kawaii….) 

(me: sweatdrop what are you doing here?  Out!) (Tomoyo vanishes)

That was weird….

Also, gomen, gomen, for taking so long.  There is this annoying thing called school that kept me from writing.  I'll try not to be so tardy next time.


	3. Syaoran Returns

Disclaimer: I don't own Card Captor Sakura.  This fic has nothing to do with Cardcaptors. *shudders*  

Gomen!  Blame school!  School is evil!  Its now spring break, so I'll try to write as much as possible.  Also, I've been sketching out a lot of ideas, instead of actually writing chapters, which explains the slow progress.  Sorry.

Oh yes, I made a minor change to the plot.  Now, if I've got it right, Sakura was 10 when she opened book, and I think that the whole series covered 2 years.  So Syaoran was 12 when he left, and 3 years have past, instead of 1, so everybody is now 15.

**An End and A Beginning**

Chapter 2: Syaoran Returns

Sakura sighed.

She absently twirled her pencil as she tuned out the teacher's incessant rambling about math.  If there was one class she hated, it was math.

Half the reason was cause she always got lost in all those numbers.  Another reason was that math always reminded her of… him.

Math had always been Syaoran's best subject.

Sakura missed Syaoran a lot.  Though when he had first come he had been a rival (Sakura could never think of anyone as her enemy really) he had been really mean to her, especially when he had tried to beat her up to get the Clow Cards.  Eventually, he had started helping with Card captures, and had even given her some of the Cards he had earned. 

After Eriol had arrived, Syaoran had stayed, and seemed to always become red for some reason whenever she was around.  Tomoyo had started giggling, but had never answered her question about why Syaoran was red.  Syaoran had comforted her when Yukito had rejected her, and had helped her with the Light and Dark Cards transformation.  He had acted strangely after that, but Sakura attributed that to Syaoran knowing that he had had to leave.

To Tomoyo's chagrin, Sakura still had no idea about Syaoran loving her.  As such, the oblivious Sakura had done something that the long-haired girl deeply disapproved of.

Today looked like it would just be like any other day, when something bright green crashed through the window of the classroom.

"Hoe?"  Everybody stood up to see what was going on, with another figure, clothed in a dark blue, leaped through the window.

"A Clow Card?" Sakura whispered as she felt that familiar tingle.

Then she saw the figure on the ground start to slowly rise from his fall.  The moment she saw his face, her heart leapt.

"Syaoran-kun!"

Everybody stared.  It was indeed Li Syaoran, the former foreign exchange student from Hong Kong, and as he slowly got up, Sakura saw that he was in full battle attire, sword drawn.

"Li-kun!" half the class shouted as they saw their former friend.

Syaoran looked up, and panicked when he saw most of his old friends staring.  He reached into his robes, and Sakura was startled to see him pull out one of the old Clow Cards.  But she had transformed all of them, hadn't she?

"Hypnosis!  Put everyone to sleep!" he shouted.

Sakura blinked as a spirit rose from the Card, male and holding a pendulum, and waves began emanating from it.  Everyone looking at it slowly fell to sleep.

"Hoe?" Sakura looked around, everyone was sleeping peacefully now, except for herself, Syaoran… and Tomoyo-chan?

Syaoran frowned.  Tomoyo opened her closed eyes, and said simply "I can't be hypnotized if I close my eyes, can I?"

He sighed.  That was the one major flaw with the Hypnosis Card.  Anyone who closed their eyes, and had a strong will, could withstand the Hypnosis' power.  Of course, if it hadn't been for that one flaw, he couldn't have been able to capture it.

He turned back to the blue figure.  It was still waiting for him to rise.  "Fight Card, these people aren't involved.  We'll finish our fight outside, okay?"

The card looked at the sleeping people, and then his eyes rested on Sakura.

"She is not your Cardcaptor, I am, so leave her alone!"  
  


There was a definite note of command in his voice, and the Card looked back to him, and then, when it was still hesitating, another familiar voice from outside called.

"Hey!  What about me?  I'll give you a challenge!"

Sakura blinked again.  "Meilin-chan?"

The Card looked outside, and seeing the Chinese girl, leapt out to battle with another opponent.

Syaoran slowly got up.  He winced as he had landed rather hard, but luckily his battle clothes had prevented any glass fragments from hurting him.  Outside, he could hear Meilin's shouts.  He didn't know how long she could hold out.  She had managed to hold her own against Sakura's Fight Card for a little while, but had still lost, but then again, Meilin had trained more since then.  Still, he didn't want to leave her alone.

"Syaoran-kun!"

Syaoran turned around at that voice.  That voice.  Sakura.

There stood Sakura.  Beautiful Sakura, with her bright emerald eyes, and bright smile.

Syaoran started blushing on the spot, but then remembered that there was a Card outside.  "Sakura, I need your help, Meilin's in trouble."

"Syaoran-kun, is that a Clow Card?" Sakura asked again.

Syaoran nodded.  "I'll explain later.  Right now we need to capture it!"

Sakura nodded as she shifted into her cardcapturing mode.  "Right!"

She pulled her key out.

**"**The key that holds the power of the stars.**  
**Reveal your true form to me.**  
**I, Sakura, commands thee under contract.**  
**Release!"

Her small charm enlarged, until it was a long pink wand with a star at the end.

Syaoran nodded.  Good to see she hadn't gotten rusty.  "Come on."  And he jumped out of the window, with Sakura following.

Neither of them noticed Tomoyo smiling evilly.

"Looks like the 2nd Deck is on the loose.  Everything is going exactly according to my plan.  Now I just wait."

Suddenly she pulled out her video camera.  "In the meantime, I can tape Sakura-chan and Li-kun, fighting together once more!  Oh, this will be so kawaii!"

And Tomoyo followed them.

***

Meilin grunted as she blocked one of the Fight Card's punches.  She smiled predatorily at it.  "Come on, I was hoping for a challenge."

The Fight Card growled, and then launched into a flying kick at her.

Meilin waited, and then while it was still in the air, sidestepped it, grabbed its leg, and then threw it into a nearby wall, causing a large imprint to appear in the shape of the Fight Card's body.

The unconscious Fight Card fell to the floor, with swirly eyes.

Meilin shook her head.  "And I thought Clow Cards were good opponents."

"Meilin!"

Meilin looked up to see Syaoran and Sakura running towards her, with Tomoyo close behind.

"Don't worry, I've already taken care of it!" Meilin shouted, waving.

"Meilin, watch out!" Syaoran shouted.

"Huh?" Meilin didn't know what Syaoran was talking about until she felt something grab her leg, and pull.

The Fight Card had pulled her down, and was up again.  The male Card stood menacingly over her, when Syaoran launched into the air, and knocked it down again.

He raised his sword.  "Fight Card, return to your power confined!  Fight Card!"

A rectangle of energy appeared below the tip of his sword, and then the magical spirit was sucked in.  The card then floated into Syaoran's hand.

On the Card was almost what looked like a male version of Sakura's Fight Card, with a lot more muscle.

Syaoran immediately brought out a pen from within his robes, and signed Syaoran on it.

Syaoran sighed.  _20 down, 32 to go_, he thought as he stared at the card.

"Syaoran-kun!"  Sakura had caught up to him, and was panting slightly.  "Syaoran, what type of Card is that?  Where did you get it?  And what are you doing back here?"

Sakura suddenly remembered the circumstances of Syaoran's departure.  Her smile turned to an icy frown.

Syaoran turned around.  "I am here on a mission, and I'll explain everything later, because everybody should be waking up about now."

Before anybody could protest, Syaoran had leapt to the top of the building, and was leaping from roof to roof.

Meilin nodded at them.  "See ya later, Kinomoto."  She followed Syaoran out.

Sakura stared after them.  _Syaoran-kun…_

Tomoyo tapped Sakura on her shoulder.  "Uh, Sakura-chan, maybe we should get back and fix the window before anyone notices us."

Sakura started.  "Oh right."

A quick application of the Create Card, and the school window was fixed, and Tomoyo and Sakura pretended to wake up with everyone else.

***

"You're going to have to face her sometime, Syaoran," Meilin said as she kept up with the swift Syaoran.

"After school then," Syaoran answered.  He had seen the look on Sakura's face when she had caught up with him.  Apparently his departure had left a mark on Sakura.

"You'll need her help for these cards, you know," Meilin said as they arrived at Syaoran's old apartment.  The clan had bought the apartment when Syaoran had returned to Japan.  For the last month or so, Syaoran had traveled around Japan, capturing various cards.  While he had managed to keep some of the Cards, the 2nd Deck had a longer range than the Sakura Cards did, so he had worked on capturing the most prominent cards first.  Now, the rest were all here in Tomoeda, where the Card Mistress was.

Syaoran and Meilin entered through the window, and Wei offered them clean clothes as they stepped into their own rooms.

"Master Syaoran, I've already registered you two at the local school," Wei said as he patiently waited outside, and after a few minutes, Syaoran and Meilin emerged in ordinary clothes.

"Should we go look for Sakura after school?" asked Meilin.

Syaoran sighed.  He would have to talk to Sakura eventually.  He just hoped Sakura forgave him for his abrupt departure a year ago.

***

"Why do you think Syaoran-kun is back?" Sakura asked Tomoyo in a low voice as they walked home.

"I bet that he missed you, and wanted to see you again!" Tomoyo said, getting her starry eyes look again.

Sakura sweatdropped at that, but didn't have the heart to knock Tomoyo out of her stupor.

She turned her head away from Tomoyo, to hide the tears in her eyes.  _Syaoran-kun, why did you come back now of all times?_

For some reason, she felt guilty about telling Syaoran about her life.  She thought of Syaoran as an overprotective friend, nothing more, since he constantly rattled off death sentences for Eriol.  So she hoped that Syaoran didn't react too badly to this new development.

"Hey Sakura!" shouted a voice as a boy popped out from nowhere and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Oh, hi Akira," Sakura said giving a false smile, while Tomoyo scowled.

"Ready for our date tonight?" asked Akira, her boyfriend.

Keeping her grin on, Sakura smiled up at him.  "Of course."

To be continued…

So, Sakura has a boyfriend.  In this little fanfic, Syaoran left without saying anything, so Sakura was open.  And Sakura still has no idea how Syaoran feels for her.  I think.  Sorry, I keep most of the plot in my head, so sometimes, I can't keep up with my own imagination.  I'll try to have the next chapter out in give or take a month.


End file.
